


On the Molecular Scale

by TheRantDragon



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-18
Updated: 2014-12-18
Packaged: 2018-03-02 02:32:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2796422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheRantDragon/pseuds/TheRantDragon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“You heard me, Miss Thing. I vibrated our molecules through the wall. You can thank me any time now, you know.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	On the Molecular Scale

**Author's Note:**

> This is a rewrite of an old fic of mine. I enjoyed it enough that I wanted to fix it up and make it more in-character. It was an older work and my skills have improved some since then, so I tweaked the whole thing from start to finish, though the same story remains. Please enjoy!

Many of the decisions in Wally West’s life happen in a moment of spontaneity. It’s always been like that since he was a kid, and yeah, maybe getting super speed powers made him even more impatient than your average redheaded science prodigy with a monstrous appetite.

Some people might call it a flaw, others might call it not thinking things through; but it’s in moments on the job, when every second counts, that Wally can safely gloat about his split second decision making skills.

After all, who’s going to argue with the guy who’s saving their ass from a really pissed off blob monster in an old abandoned apartment building, even if there was a _tiny_ possibility it could have gotten them both killed?

Only the ungrateful, that’s who!

As it was, Wally was seeing everything in slow motion at the moment, as if time itself had crawled to a stop to give him a front row seat of his Team mate’s incoming demise. It was as if the universe knew he didn’t have any time to think at all; like “Think fast, Kid!”.

Good thing thinking fast was in his forte, even if it sometimes came with a side order of foot-in-mouth syndrome. The universe had no idea who it was even messing with.

Of course, Wally hoped his asinine on-the-fly plan wouldn’t result in both himself and his charge being flattened against the wall like a superhero pancake. No amount of syrup could make that situation better.

Clayface was on an absolute rampage. They’d been tailing his brown butt for at least an hour now, and Wally still wasn’t entirely sure what the dude’s angle was. It was like he was trying to get somewhere important, weaving in and out of alleys and buildings and busy parking lots just to throw them all off the trail. Apparently the guy had finally had it with them, slinging Superboy into the bottom floor of an out-of-date apartment complex, and well, now here they all were.

And there was Artemis, backing against the far wall like an absolute newbie, her strong arm reaching behind her back for an arrow even with Clayface barreling toward her like an out of control freight train.

What was she even thinking, Wally thought angrily at the sight; she totally knows better than that, he’s seen her whoop everyone’s ass in the sparring circle. Definitely not _his_ ass of course, but other various Team asses.

Then there was the fact that she looked infuriatingly calm, like “Oh, hey, no big deal, just about to be crushed to death by a giant blob of brown mucus!”. Her hands didn’t even waver as she brought her bow up, sure of the shot.

Maybe she would have nailed him in the face and saved her own life, but Wally had already decided he needed to stage an intervention. Superboy was taking way too long getting debris off of his face, and the other’s attacks weren’t doing quite so good. Wally was positive he could just swoop in and scoop her up, safe and sound. Maybe give her a word or two about stupid decisions, and hope she wouldn’t be able to feel his rapidly beating heart.

Which would _only_ be beating erratically due to adrenaline, and _nothing_ else at all.

“I’ve had enough of you pests!” Clayface roared. Artemis just sneered at him, bow stretched back. Waiting, waiting, what was she waiting on!

_What a complete idiot, is she trying to get herself killed?_

Wally yanked his goggles down over his eyes with determination, putting on a burst of speed that had him soaring past Clayface with the utmost ease.

Now, Wally’s original split-second plan had involved heroically scooping Artemis up into his arms and carrying her away just as the monster slammed a hammer-shaped fist violently against the space she had been occupying.

_Split-second plan or a daydream?_ taunted a husky voice in his head; he could almost hear it smirk. The thought made his cheeks red.

Anyway, that had been the general idea. He hadn’t accounted for possibly, uh, tripping his own two feet up and slamming bodily into Artemis, thus causing her to mistakenly misfire her arrow. He could feel it slice through the air near his ear, flying up and over in an arc before clattering to the floor harmlessly.

Artemis was going to give him hell for that one.

He could hear Clayface’s laughter at the blunder. Panic surged through every molecule in his body, making the hairs stand up on his neck. There wasn’t any time at all to move her or even himself out of the way now. But he had no intentions of becoming the world’s skinniest speedster.

Grasping Artemis’s biceps, body humming with panic and adrenaline, Wally shut his eyes tight and hoped to Einstein that science was on his side at this particular moment. When he felt his forehead collide with her’s painfully, he figured it was all over for them both. Obviously he had screwed up pretty fantastically, and any moment they would both be suffocated in gelatinous ooze if they weren’t crushed by it first.

Except, you know, that never happened.

A second after the forehead collision, Wally felt a sense of falling through the air. It was so unexpected that he could think of no quick reaction to it, couldn’t even peel his scrunched lids open until it was too late. There was a loud crack as Artemis’s skull collided with something rather solid, then his forehead endured another meeting with hers. It left him gasping and her hissing, hands immediately flying to the back of her head as she curled her body in on itself beneath him, trying to stifle the pain.

There was a powerful, teeth rattling boom against the wall behind them. It chipped the bricks and sent dust particles raining down over them. Wally shielded her from it since he was already above her writhing form, and she took precedent as soon as the noise and debris flecks had stopped assailing them.

“Artemis! Are you okay?”

She had her palms pressed firmly against her head, eyes sealed and teeth clenched. Her nose was pressing into the concrete, the heavy exhale from her nostrils chasing debris across the floor.

“Son of a…” she bemoaned. Gingerly, Wally grabbed one of her hands, peeling it away with very little fighting on her part, surprisingly. A bit of blood coated the tips of her fingers, but it didn’t seem too serious, considering how head wounds always bled more. Still, he felt bad(worried) about it, and without a second thought he pulled one of his gloves off with his teeth and pressed it against the wound. He brought her hand up to it, letting her take over.

Had her hands always been so calloused? He hadn’t ever noticed before…

“Artemis, are you okay?” Wally tried again, concerned. Sure, he was often at his wits end with her, and he loved to goad her into bristling at him because at least it made her _look_ his way, got her eyes sparking in his direction even if it was in irritation. Honestly she’s kind of unreasonable most of the time. But he really doesn’t think he can live with himself if she’s got a concussion right now. Or brain damage.

The archer’s eyes popped open, the one pupil he could see quickly focusing on his face. Shortly thereafter, she sat up quite rapidly, forcing Wally to yelp and stumble off of her, barely managing to catch himself with his hands before he toppled onto his ass. Artemis was holding his glove tightly to the injury, the hairs on the top of her head out of place and coated in dust. Her eyes alighted on him, a dangerous wrinkle forming between her brows.

“What the hell was that?” she demanded, groaning. She looked down at the floor around her, and the scattering of arrows that had cascaded out of her quiver on the fall caught her eyes. Wally could see immediately that he was in trouble, because the shafts had reminded her of her misplaced shot. Sure enough, Artemis rounded back on him, jaw set. “Why did you do that, Wally, I had it under control!”

Wally scoffed loudly. “Right! Okay, yeah, I should have let Clayface crush you while you spent an hour trying to line up the perfect shot, is that it?”

“I was waiting for a close shot,” Artemis growled.

“Breathing down your neck isn’t close enough for you? I was under the impression you were, I don’t know, a good archer?”

“A good archer knows when to wait for the right opportunity!”

“Well you missed it!”

“Yeah, because you slammed me up against the wall like a moron!”

Wally’s face flushed. He pushed himself to his feet, dusting his kneecaps off.

“I was _trying_ to get you out of the way, okay?” he muttered, begrudgingly extending one of his hands to her. She eyed it for a moment, then took it tightly, letting him haul her up with surprising ease. It was his ungloved hand he had offered; her skin came in contact with his, warm and rough. Maybe they lingered a little too long. Wally jerked his away like her skin had caught fire.

Without another word, both of them faced the wall they had…

“So, besides giving me a concussion and ruining my shot… what exactly happened?” Artemis asked, gesturing with her free hand.

Wally winced at the mention of her head.

“Look, I’m sorry okay, I didn’t mean for you to hit your head. You’re… okay, right?”

He just wanted to make sure she was going to still be on her a-game for their next back and forth, right? I mean, what fun would it be if she couldn’t even give him a proper reposte because he damaged her brain on a mission? That brain of hers is a precious thing… only because it could keep up with his own brilliant mind. Ha, sort of. He’ll give her some credit though, she could sure get him dancing on his toes. Not that he would ever admit that out loud.

Artemis glanced at him, her face relaxed from it’s anger. She moved his glove away from the back of her head, checking it. There was a circle of soaked up blood, still very wet, so she pressed it back into place and shrugged at him.

“I’m okay, it’ll probably stop bleeding soon.”

“Oh. Good! That’s… great.”

She stared, lips pursed. “Yeah… so are you going to tell me what you did, smart one?”

“I vibrated us through the wall,” Wally promptly answered without registering what he said. Another gift of his, speaking without thinking. Kinda comes with the split second decision making. And foot-in-mouth. Man, he’s got a lot of gifts.

“You _what_?”

Wally scowled. “You heard me, Miss Thing. I vibrated our molecules through the wall. You can thank me any time now, you know.” He leaned forward expectantly, one palm held near his ear like he was waiting. Artemis scoffed.

“Why would I thank you when I had the situation under control? And what’s with the nosebleed, slick?”

“Huh?” Wally gaped dumbly. His glove free hand wiped just beneath his nose and came away with a bright red smear of scarlet. Oh. How embarrassing, not this crap again. And in front of Artemis of all people? He’ll never hear the end of it. “Must be the dry air.” Oooh, that’s a good one.

Artemis gave him an unimpressed look. Goddamnit, she was too good.

“Fine! Okay, it’s a result from molecular vibration, alright? It’s really hard to maintain…” he trailed off, eyes widening at his discovery.

“Wally? Earth to—”

_“I vibrated us through the freaking wall!”_

Artemis looked rather concerned for his well being, especially when he pumped his fist through the air like he’d just won the lottery.

“Pretty sure we established that already. You sure _you_ aren’t the one who may have a concussion?”

But Wally wasn’t listening at all, he was too busy having a massive party for himself on the inside. Holy crap, he finally did it! Sure, he still got a stupid nosebleed, and sure he could see where some of it had dripped onto Artemis’s uniform top where he’d been hovering over her. Sure it was a fluke, sure he hadn’t _meant_ to do it, but the point was he _did_ it! How freaked would uncle Barry be when he showed him? There was a speedster moving up in town, and his name was Wally West, aw yeah! Years of hard work, finally starting to pay off.

Even if, you know, the person he saved was a little unappreciative.

“I can’t believe it actually worked!” he laughed out, doing a little jig.

“What do you _mean_ —”

Artemis was cut short when she shut her eyes, swaying forward just a bit on the spot. Wally moved forward quickly, letting her hand come up to brace herself on his broad shoulder. She tilted her forehead against it for a moment. Wally’s palms hovered worriedly near her biceps.

“We really need to get your head checked out,” he insisted. God, what a jerk, giving her a concussion. So much for feeling good about vibrating through the wall; it was at the price of one snarky archer’s head health.

“I’m _fine_ , I just got a little dizzy,” Artemis said, moving away from him like nothing happened. Wally rolled his eyes skyward; so can’t deal with her. “But don’t change the subject; what do you _mean_ , it actually worked?”

“Uuuuh…”

_“Wally.”_

“Look, I’m not exactly the world’s biggest expert on molecular vibration,” he admitted, bottom lip jutting a bit. He wasn’t even sure why he was being so straightforward with her about this; maybe she deserved it since he almost busted her brain open. Otherwise there’s no way in hell he’d be saying this in front of her. “It’s something I’ve been working on ever since I became Kid Flash. This is the first time I’ve ever actually been able to pull it off. So… there was, I don’t know, maybe a tiny, miniscule, microscopic, _teensy_ possibility that we could have wound up smashed into a bloody pulp. Or stuck inside of the wall or something. But those a minor details, to be honest.”

_“Minor. Details?”_

“There is room for failure in science, Artemis!” Wally defended himself, exasperated. She clearly wasn’t convinced with him, looking far more exasperated than he.

“Not when it involves a life and death situation!” she rasped, her voice cracking at a higher octave on the last word. She let out a noise of frustration, dropping her head into her hand and shaking her head at him. “You’re unbelievable!”

“Yeah, I get that a lot.”

“Wally, _so_ not the time. I can’t believe you almost got us stuck in the freaking wall…”

“Hey, hey, I said there was a _probability_ , and it was like… 45%.”

“Oh my god.”

“What!? That’s still a 55% chance of success, which is pretty much in our favor.”

“I’m out of here,” Artemis declared, turning on her heel. Too fast, apparently, because she nearly toppled onto the ground again. She steadied herself before Wally could do anything. Not that he was going to; she was so frustrating, maybe it’d do her good to land on her butt. Or her head again. Obviously she doesn’t understand the subtle art of statistics and probability. Either way, Wally had _only_ stepped toward her rapidly because he just so happened to see a locked up cellar door a few paces in front of her, and _not_ because he was going to catch her if she fell.

Nope.

“There’s no door in here,” Artemis grumbled, still rubbing her head. Wally smirked smugly, pointing.

“Cellar door right in front of you.”

Without waiting for a response, he swaggered ahead of her, trying to keep alive some of that post-molecular vibration exhilaration alive. Seriously, so cool.

Upon reaching the dilapidated old wood doors, Wally promptly pushed his palms against them, expecting them to fall right open with ill of ease. But instead they stayed firmly in place. Huffing, Wally pushed them again, rattling the doors until the distinct noise of a chain reached both of their ears.

“It’s locked,” he complained. He shoved his shoulder into it, struggling fruitlessly.

“Put your back into it,” Artemis called, amused by his vain efforts.

“I am,” Wally ground out, but it was no use. He slumped away from them, frowning at their only means of escape. He turned to his sourpuss archer. “Hey, why am I doing all the work here? Make yourself useful and use one of those explosive arrows from your never-ending quiver on it!”

“Tough luck, _Kid Vibrator,_ ” Artemis smirked, digging that godforsaken dimple into the side of her cheek. Wally felt his face heat a bit, but largely ignored the comment. And her face. “I used my last explosive on Clayface. You know, the one you made me miss with? And the ones scattered on the ground over there are just normal arrows.”

Sighing dramatically, Wally hopped down from the cellar steps.

“Oh well, looks like we—”

_CRASH! BOOM!_

The two teens whipped their heads around at the sounds emanating from beyond the wall they had slipped through earlier. Clearly their teammates were still having the time of their lives with Clayface, who had obviously woken up on the wrong side of the…. uh, he still sleeps in a bed, right?

Wally and Artemis shared an unsure glance, the latter biting uncertainly into her lip.

“Sounds like they could still use our help…” she commented. Wally just looked at her. What was she even thinking? She can’t possibly help with a concussion, she can barely turn her head without getting a dizzy spell. Still, she had a point. The Team had been having a hard time with Clayface when all of them there to help out, so it only stood to reason they’d be faring worse without their resident redhead and blonde.

“Yeah… We have to get back.”

Silence as they both wracked their brains for an answer. Artemis eyed the wall two or three times, then let her rain swept eyes land on Wally.

“Can’t you just… I don’t know, take us _back_ through the wall?”

Oh boy. He had kind of been thinking that himself, but he had hoped it wouldn’t actually come up as an option. He had no idea if he could pull it off again.

“I, uh… I’m not sure,” he confessed, rubbing his neck. He couldn’t even make eye contact with her, how embarrassing.

“Well, we have to try something. The link is down, which means either M’gann is out cold or else too preoccupied trying to stay alive. They need us, Wally.”

“…right. Okay, okay, let’s give it a try.”

They walked back to the wall. It looked solid and imposing all of a sudden, making Wally gulp. Where oh where did his confidence for this go? On the other side of the wall with his prickling panic and adrenaline, most likely. That’s what he had felt before he had done it.

“Give me your hand,” he said to Artemis, holding his ungloved one out. Artemis raised her brows at him. He scowled. “Just do it.”

He took it, turning away from her, and concentrated. He wasn't really sure what he was looking for. It was kind of hard to concentrate with Artemis’s hand in his, mostly because she squeezed his impatiently every so often… or was that a squeeze of encouragement? Either way it wasn't really doing any wonders for his concentration. He had a very thin well of it and she was sucking all of it away from him like a thirsting woman trapped in a desert.

And Einstein, is it him or does Artemis have ridiculously sweaty palms? Okay no, no that is definitely his.

“Wally, get on with it.”

“I’m getting to it!” he yelped, squeezing her hand viciously. She squeezed it right back, digging her nails in marginally. For some reason it just made him grin.

“Doesn’t look like it.”

“It doesn’t look like anything.”

“Exactly.”

Wally sent her a murderous glance. She smirked.

He ignored her, closing his eyes once more, concentrating. He kind of imagined how he felt when he used it before, the panic, the urgent need to get away by any means necessary, even if it means through the damn wall, just as long as at least Artemis is okay—

It felt like a tingling sensation, something he hadn’t noticed before with so many things happening at once. It’s kind of like that feeling when a limb falls asleep, that prickling itch that’s uncomfortable and annoying. A gentle, very subtle hum. He smiled, because he knew that this was it, he was going to do it again, right back through to their frien—

“Shit!”

Wally lost it. His concentration slipped last second and there it was, that inevitable nose bleed, flowing down his lip and dripping to the concrete below his feet. Ugh.

“Wally, are you okay? I didn’t feel anything,” Artemis told him, hovering near him. He gestured at her to give him a minute, bending over and bracing himself on his knee so he wouldn’t get any of the blood on his uniform. Vaguely he was aware of Artemis still holding his hand next to him, but he did nothing to correct the situation. Mostly because he was more concerned about his very serious, life-threatening nosebleed. Duh.

He pinched the bridge of his nose.

“M’fine. What do you mean you didn’t feel anything? Did you feel something before?”

She squeezed his hand and dropped it. Bummer.

“Warm. And kind of… tingly, I guess?” Artemis said, unsure sounding. “Isn’t that what it feels like to you?”

“No. Well, I mean, sort of, at first. But then it’s just more like I’m weightless or something. It’s really weird, but kind of good.”

He wiped the blood from his nose once again, standing up straight. With a sigh, he held out his hand for her. “Alright, let’s give this another go, I think I got it this time.” He hoped he did, at any rate. He was aware of the precious time they were wasting; they hadn’t heard anymore noises from beyond the wall so far, and he wasn’t sure whether to be comforted or disturbed by it.

Artemis didn’t take his hand.

“Wally?”

“Yeah?”

“This… hand holding thing. It’s not really working.”

Wally laughed a little. “All my fault. Trust me, I got it this time. I just let the nosebleed get the best of me”. Ha, what a lie; Artemis distracted him, and he knows it, but he’s not about to admit it.

“Look, all I’m saying is the first time you did it, you grabbed me by the arms. That’s a lot more contact than just holding my hand,” Artemis said, crossing her arms over her chest. Her eyes didn’t quite meet his, instead becoming rather interested in the offending wall itself, like it held all the answers.

Wally just looked at her. Looked at her, with her arms crossed and her gaze carefully avoiding his own, with his blood stained glove she’d shoved underneath her belt for safekeeping instead of giving back to him. Then there was all that impossible blonde hair cascading down her back, some of it tinted with a bit of red from her wound, and her skin was covered in a fine layer of pixie dust, concealing her supple skin. The strong line of her jaw was relaxed, but her lips were in a thin line, and for a second Wally just _looked_ at her.

Then he blinked.

“Are you suggesting to me what I think you’re suggesting?” he asked incredulously.

She huffed, rolling her eyes. She does that a lot. In fact, Wally had noticed a direct correlation with their proximity to each other and the number of times her pupils find themselves on an upward track toward the ceiling. Her claims that she never rolls her eyes unless around him are a complete load, of course, but he can’t deny he certainly brings it out in her. ‘Course, she brings it out in him, too. Sometimes he gets dizzy from all of it.

“Don’t get any funny ideas, Kid,” she warned him, finally looking at him. “I’m being practical here, not inviting you to get touchy feely. More contact is the way to go for this.”

Touchy feely. With Artemis. Hahaha. Good one.

Maybe just a little.

“Right. Practical Artemis, just thinking about what’s best, and not about how she wants to get up close and personal with the Wall-man. I’ll buy that for a dollar.”

“You’re pretty much the last person I want to get up close and personal with. Can we just get this over already!?”

“…fine. Come here.”

“No, you come here.”

Oh look, there go his eyes again, up to the ceiling. Right on schedule.

Wally strode over to her, and his heart was definitely _not_ beating faster than it should be. Her eyes followed him, narrowing more the closer he got, like she thought he was going to pounce on her out of the blue or something. In her dreams. (Maybe in _his_ dreams. If he was _delusional_ ).

“Hey, your hands were on my arms, not my waist.”

Her voice snapped him out of it. And there he was, with his hands on her waist instead of on her biceps. When had he done that? He felt like a deer caught in the headlights, but he quickly composed himself, wiggling his eyebrows at her.

“Yeah, but I figured since you said more contact is better…”

Then he kind of pulled her to him. Almost like he would hold a girl he actually liked and was about to start dancing with or something. Which is really, really weird because he had absolutely no intention of doing this but he’s got to save face in front of her. What better way to do that than by acting like he thinks she wants him. (what if she does?)

Yeah, right.

Artemis grunted at him, nostrils flaring. Wally feared she might hit him, but instead she put her hands on his chest, pushing away slightly but not all the way. She dug her nails into his chest, making him wince and in turn making her smile with satisfaction.

“You’re right, I _did_ say that.”

“Uh…” he floundered. Leaving one hand on his chest, Artemis brought the other up behind his neck, and good god what was going on right now. His brain kind of panicked and short circuited at her proximity, especially when her nails dug into his neck. To top it all off, she pressed herself closer to him, like, chest to chest and holy crap what was this girl doing, she’s crazy. His adam’s apple bobbed, and he really hoped she didn’t notice.

“Ow,” he managed at her nails.

“Close enough, Kid Vibrator?”

“Uhhhhh… yeah.”

Clearly satisfied that she’d turned his bravado against him, it went quiet between them. Their eyes found each other, startling green on a dark flecked gray. Wally found himself pondering the possibilities that maybe molecular vibration had a brain deteriorating side effect that could lead to strange situations like the one he found himself in.

He couldn’t say he was entirely disappointed with the situation, though.

Artemis scrutinized him through her lashes, pursing her lips.

“You know, I’m just trying to figure out why the _great_ Kid Flash deemed it worth it to risk his handsome life to save little ole me,” she said suddenly, an amused look gracing her features. He’s not dumb though, he could see a hint of something more serious in them, and it took him for unpleasant surprise.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Wally, we’re not exactly always completely agreeable with one another. I mean, it’s not like I hate you, but you’re incredibly annoying.”

“Gee, thanks,” he deadpanned, squeezing her sides. “Feelings mutual,” he added. “And anyway, we’re on the same Team, I’m not gonna leave you out to dry. I would never do that.”

She scrutinized him some more.

“And hey, maybe we’re not agreeable, but I’d say we’re pretty darn cozy right now…” Wally supplied, waggling his eyebrows. It was the only thing he could think of to say, because she was kind of throwing him for a loop with all this talk.

She shoved his chest but couldn’t hide her smirk. Wally felt a little braver.

“Hey, don’t get me wrong, Miss Thing. I’d say, aside from _minor toleration_ , my feelings for you are on the microscopic scale.”

Hey look at that! There’s that foot-in-mouth, never-think-before-you-speak syndrome! Way to sound like a complete dickweed. That’s not how he meant it! He caught the way her eyes darted away from his, brows furrowed at the statement. _Microscopic scale?_ Talk about harsh.

“But you know, I do… care about you. I’m not a complete jerk, you know,” he added hastily, a verbal bandaid. A very bad verbal bandaid.

Foot, please leave mouth.

“Huh, yeah,” she said, looking back up at him. Forced smile, it’s so forced. Ugh, someone hates him. His foot, obviously. “I get it, Wally. It’s… nice to know you have my back.”

“Always.”

It’s a quick response, no hesitation. It startled him, and maybe her a little too. But it felt nice.

They stared at each other until Artemis cleared her throat.

“Look, we really need to get back to those guys, I haven’t heard anything from them in a while so… let’s just give this a go now.”

“Okay, yeah.”

“And, uh, Wally?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for saving me back there. Even though I didn’t really need it. Just so we’re clear.”

Wally turned his head to try and hide his grin.

“Hey, that’s what I’m here for, unnecessary saving of damsels who don’t really need it,” he said, smiling at her. She snorted, and the laughter she offered him was husky and raw. It sent a tingle of warmth through his body, but it was a much better kind of feeling than the one he got when he tried molecular vibration. This was warm and inviting, solid; not weightless. It was something he wanted to gravitate toward, but he was afraid.

“You should make that your title.”

“Kid Flash, Handsome Speedster, Savior of Damsels Not Really in Distress. S’got a nice ring to it.”

“Take out the handsome part,” she deadpanned.

Their laughter was cut short by the worried voices of their teammates.

_Guys!_

The intrusion caused Wally and Artemis to spring apart like they’d been caught in the act of something unthinkable. It was kind of a relief to realize that their Team wasn’t actually crowded around them, seeing them so close together like that. God, Dick the troll wonder would never have let him live that one down.

_Hey, M’gann._

_Are you two alright? We lost you guys._

_Did you get knocked out?_ Wally inquired, expecting the answer to be yes.

_No. When you and Artemis disappeared through the wall together, something happened to your connection, but there wasn’t any time for me to re-establish with Clayface attacking. I hope you’re both alright!_

_Oh we’re fine,_ Wally said, stroking at his chin in interest. _Wow, so you lost us when we went through? Kind of like we… I don’t know, scrambled the signal, so to speak. Wait til I tell Barry about this…_

_Wally, you can science boner later,_ Dick snickered, making Wally splutter indignantly before Kal cut in.

_Where are you now?_

_Some kind of cellar,_ Artemis informed. _The cellar door is locked, I’m out of explosive arrows, and Kid here can’t get us back through without suffering a massive brain hemorrhage._

_Harr, harr, miss concussed._

_I’m on my way,_ Conner grunted over them, and the link fell quiet.

The two heroes meandered awkwardly away from each other, awaiting their savior. Wally couldn’t help but keep smiling to himself.

“Oh, and Wally?”

“Yeah?” he asked, looking at her.

“I’ve got your back, too. Just so you know.”

“Yeah?”

“Well, I _am_ concussed so this could all be delusional talk but… yeah, I’ve got your back.”

Wally grinned.


End file.
